"Home care" is a simple phrase that encompasses a wide range of health and social services. These services are delivered at home to recovering, disabled, chronically or terminally ill persons in need of medical, nursing, social, or therapeutic treatment and/or assistance with the essential activities of daily living.

 

Generally, home care is appropriate whenever a person prefers to stay at home but needs ongoing care that cannot easily or effectively be provided solely by family and friends. More and more older people, electing to live independent, non-institutionalized lives, are receiving home care services as their physical capabilities diminish. Younger adults who are disabled or recuperating from acute illness are choosing home care whenever possible. Adults and children diagnosed with terminal illness also are being cared for at home, receiving compassion and maintaining dignity at the end of life. As hospital stays decrease, increasing numbers of patients need highly skilled services when they return home. Other patients are able to stay at home to begin with, receiving safe and effective care in the comfort of their own homes.

 

 

Selecting the Right Home Care Agency

 

Learning as much as you can about a home care agency is the best way to determine which agency is best for you or a loved one. Some of the following questions you should ask a perspective home care provider about the services they offer are as follows:

 

• How long has the agency been serving the communtiy?

• Is the agency certified by Medicare?

• Is the agency licensed by the state?

• Is the agency accredited by the Joint Commision of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)?

• Does the agency assign supervisors to oversee the quality of care patients are receiving in their homes?

• What procedures are in place to handle emergencies? Are the agency caregivers available 24 hours a day, seven days a week?

 

The following criteria determine if you may be eligible to receive home health care under your Medicare benefits:

 

• You must require intermittent skilled nursing care, physical therapy or speech threapy.

• You must be homebound.

• You must be currently under a physician's care.